


The Contest

by yankeetooter



Category: Chernobyl (TV 2019)
Genre: Crossword Puzzles, Fluff, M/M, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:42:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21763954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yankeetooter/pseuds/yankeetooter
Summary: Boris decides to pit his general knowledge against that of Valery's.
Relationships: Valery Legasov/Boris Shcherbina
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	The Contest

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I have so fallen off the Advent Ficlet Challenge wagon. Maybe I'll finish eventually, maybe I won't, but for the moment here's my latest creation.
> 
> An AU where Valery and Boris are able to enjoy their lives together after Chernobyl, even if for a shortened time.

Boris walked into the living room, content on this Sunday afternoon. Sunday was the one day of the week that neither he nor Valery had to go in to work, and, usually, if he was lucky, Boris could even persuade Valery to do something he enjoyed. Sometimes they listened to music, sometimes they sat and read, occasionally Valery would sit and work on his poetry. Boris didn't much care what he and Valery did, as long as it involved Valery not doing any work, The man worked too hard, even now that the ordeal of Chernobyl had mainly passed to other hands.

But when Boris saw Valery seated and writing on some paper, forehead creased in concentration, he wasn't sure this was going to be one of those Sundays. He walked over, hoping he could extricate Valery from whatever he was working on before he got too deeply engrossed.

"What have you got there, Valera?" Boris asked, coming around to look over Valery's shoulder. (He knew better than to just take whatever Valery was working on to look at. The last time he'd done that, Valery had pouted for hours.) He relaxed when he saw that what Valery was so engrossed in didn't seem to be work at all, but rather some sort of word puzzle.

Valery looked up and smiled slightly at Boris' question. "It's called a crossword puzzle, and you have to fill in each clue. See, there are clues for the words going across, and clues for the words going down. The words intersect, obviously, so that sometimes helps, but the puzzles can still be rather difficult."

Boris gazed at the puzzle for a moment. Valery had only managed to fill in about half the clues so far. "It doesn't seem so difficult," he teased Valery, knowing it would rile the scientist a bit.

Valery sputtered. "Do you think you could so easily do this puzzle, Borja?"

"I could certainly do at least as well as you, provided the clues aren't all about nuclear physics."

Valery stood up and faced Boris. "Alright, I tell you what, Boris. I haven't bought today's paper yet. Let's walk down to the corner and buy two, then we can see who can finish the puzzle first." Valery had a stubborn look on his face, but Boris was glad to see he wasn't really angry. Instead, a competitive look shone in his eyes, and Boris felt himself responding in a like manner.

They walked down to the corner shop and bought two papers, and were seated back in the apartment before too much longer, ready to begin.

"Should we have a prize for the winner?" Boris asked.

Valery thought. "The loser could cook dinner all this week." His suggestion was met by a hearty laugh from Boris. 

"That would be a punishment for me if I won, eh, Valera?" he teased playfully.

Valery rolled up his newspaper and smacked Boris with it in pretend indignation, but he couldn't help but smile at Boris' ribbing. He really was a horrible cook!

Boris thought again. "How about the loser gives the winner an hour-long back massage?" Valery smiled at the thought of what he was sure he would be enjoying later that evening. Boris' hands were strong and skilled, and he loved the feel of them on his body. "It's agreed then. Ready, start!"

Both men bent to their tasks intently. About ten minutes into the contest, a loud truck stopped on the street, ruining the quiet of the early afternoon. Boris, who was finding the puzzle to be a bit more challenging than he had originally thought, grumbled at the distracting noise.

Valery, engrossed, was not at all bothered by the noise. He looked up, unable to resist teasing his friend. "Come now, Boris, when engaging in intellectual pursuits, one cannot allow oneself to be distracted by their surroundings."

Boris just glared at Valery's gloating. Fortunately, the noise only lasted about ten more minutes and then it was quiet again.

An hour or so later, Boris sat back. He had finished about 75% of the puzzle, but he just couldn't get any further. Valery was still going, but had gotten stuck on the last five or six clues and couldn't seem to make any more progress either.

Seeing Boris sit back, Valery showed his mostly finished puzzle to Boris, although not closely enough to let him see any of his answers. "I guess I win, Borja! I have more done than you!" Valery really couldn't help rubbing it in Boris' face a bit.

Boris thought a moment. "Now hold on, Valera, you haven't won yet. We agreed that whoever _finished_ the puzzle first would win. You clearly haven't finished."

Valery made a face but had to concede the point. They had agreed to those terms. Well, back to work. 

Except it was not to be as easy as all that. Now Boris, having given up on his own puzzle, amused himself by trying to distract Valery. At first he simply sat and gazed at the Valery, something he didn't mind doing at any time. His attention on Valery made the scientist blush and struggle all the harder to finish the last few clues.

Boris then thought of another idea. He slipped off the shoe and sock from Valery's foot, and sat holding the foot in his hands, a mischievous smile on his face.

Valery, who had tried to ignore him, looked up in alarm. "Boris, what are you doing? Let go of my foot right now!" Valery tried to pull his foot away, but Boris had a firm grip on his heel.

"Are you giving up then, Valery?" he queried. At a stubborn shake of the head from Valery, he continued examining his foot. He began running his fingers up along the top of Valery's sole, right under his toes, a most tender spot. 

"Stop, it, Boris! Stop doing that! You're cheating!" 

Boris glanced up at Valery's expression, a curious mix of anger, indignation and barely contained laughter. He continued tickling the ultra-sensitive area on Valery's foot, gradually coaxing more and more of a smile onto the man's face.

"Boris! Stop! I can't concentrate!" This last was said through hysterical laughter as Valery succumbed at last to Boris' tickling. 

Boris leaned in close to Valery, still tormenting his ticklish foot. "Come now, Valery, when engaging in intellectual pursuits, one cannot allow oneself to be distracted by their surroundings."

Valery stuck out his tongue at Boris throwing his own words back at him. Still laughing he finally managed to wrest his foot away from Boris' grip and sat on both of his feet so Boris couldn't tickle them anymore. Then, as if nothing had happened, he went back to wrestling with the puzzle.

But Boris wasn't done. Now he sat next to Valery on the couch and put his arm around him. Valery smiled and laid his head contentedly on Boris' shoulder for a few minutes. No matter the contest, he always enjoyed Boris' closeness. But to Boris' consternation, after a few minutes he went back to working on the puzzle, thoughts of a back rub from Boris making him determined to finish.

Boris let his hand travel down Valery's waist and sneak under his shirt, under which lay Valery's ample belly. He ran his hands over Valery's plump belly, watching for a reaction. When Valery started to squirm a bit as expected, he began playfully poking him all over. Valery dissolved into laughter, begging Boris to stop. 

When Boris finally let up, Valery said defiantly, "Honestly, Boris, can't you bear for me to win at something, just once?" Boris looked down at Valery and then kissed him deeply. 

"You win, Valerka! You'll always win, because you're first in my heart!" He kissed Valery even more passionately this time, the crossword puzzle lying on the floor and all but forgotten.


End file.
